gupfandomcom-20200214-history
Alice Shimada
Alice Shimada (島田 愛里寿 Alice Shimada) is the commander of the All-Stars University's Sensha-dō team who is a young prodigy that skipped grades to reach university despite her young age. She is the daughter of Chiyo Shimada, the Master of the Shimada style and a rival to the Nishizumi house. Profile Alice is a member of the All-Stars University Team and its Overall Sensha-dō Commander. She skipped grades to reach university for this purpose, which has the side effect of leaving her relatively lonely in a university environment. She is the heir to the Shimada Style, a "ninja" style known for its penchant of unanticipated moves and tactical unpredictability. The Shimada Style is the polar opposite of the Nishizumi Style. Like Miho Nishizumi, Alice feels pressure to uphold her family honor, part of which involves refusing to ally with Miho, despite holding her in admiration. Appearance Alice is a pale-skinned girl with light brown eyes and blonde, shoulder-length twin ponytails tied with black ribbons. At the Boko Museum, she is seen carrying a pink handbag. Personality Alice is a very shy girl. When Miho approaches her at the Boko Museum to give her the last rare Boko toy, she can't speak and runs away in shyness, not even thanking her. She seems to take her responsibilities seriously, which is rare for a child of this age, and to be quite intelligent. She is capable of manipulating various tactics and is a very skilled fighter. But probably because she's shy, she appears to be quite cold at first, then warms up when is better known, as seen in the OVA. In the Drama CD Alice feels that she does not know much about friendship. She herself does not appear to have many friends, even from her tank crew. She also lacks a particular set of social skills, which may be caused by the awe her prodigal status in her field and her ostracism from the rest of the university students due to her age. This is most evident when she attempts to congratulate Miho on her victory after the match, but being unable to speak directly and instead using the medium of the Boko toy to get her message across. She is in many ways a parallel character to Miho, but in a societal position equivalent to Maho Nishizumi. In the OVA, she's finally friends with Miho, which makes her less lonely. Background The first appearance of Alice is when the Anglerfish team crew visit the defunct Boko Museum. Riding the rides and sitting in a theater showing a theatrical performance and the protagonist of the play is asking 'cheer up power' from the audience. As a fan of Boko, it was when Miho was about to cheer, when Alice's voice is heard first. When they visit the gift shop afterwards, Alice looks around at Miho and the others, but when reaching for the last rare Boko plushie, she's beaten to it. Standing for a moment in regret, she is given the toy by Miho and stares worried for a second, then leaving without a word. After that, the next time Alice is seen practicing coordination with Azumi, Megumi and Rumi on a field with mock up Panthers, noting with her set watch the time her TV started recording the Boko show. And the Team noting the ease of victory with Alice's 'Ninja Tactics' and receiving a call from her mother. Afterwards in her room conversing with her mother who asks her to destroy the name of Nishizumi Style and Alice acknowledges the match's importance asking if she wins, Shimada would sponsor the nearly financially drained Boko Museum. Alice commands the Strengthened Team throughout the match. She commands a Centurion Mk. I A41 Tank, although she abstains from participating directly for the majority of the battle, preferring to coordinate the university forces from a distance. However, in the final stages of battle, the All-Stars University Team numbers are dwindling and Alice takes a direct approach and leads her tank into battle. She proves to be an incredibly skilled commander, overcoming a Chi-Ha-Tan ambush, defeating Turtle and Anteater Teams in a high speed chase and taking out Rabbit Team, Mallard Team and the CV-33 before rendezvousing with the Bermuda Trio for the showdown against the Nishizumi sisters. In the final confrontation, Alice ends up alone against both Miho and Maho. She turns out to be a formidable opponent, even whilst outnumbered two to one. After an extended duel, Alice is defeated when Miho uses a banzai charge to plant a shot into her tank at point blank range. After the match, Alice congratulates Miho on winning the match and gives her the Boko plushie from the museum as a memento. She took a photo with the entire Ooarai Team, whom after meeting gave her an interest in becoming involved in normal high school life in the OVA. Alice is last seen in the restored Boko museum with her sub-commanders. Trivia *Alice's surname Shimada 'means "island" (島) ('shima) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (da). **Alice's family name could be a reference to real life ace tanker Major Toyosaku Shimada, who distinguished itself during the Battle of Slim River in British Mayaya. *Like Miho, Alice is also a fan of Boko and she accepts to fight against Ooarai if Chiyo, in the case of a win, becomes the sponsor of the Boko Museum, which is about to close because of lack of funding. *Alice uses a hand-held radio (as opposed to the in-built radio in her tank) when communicating exclusively with the members of the Bermuda Trio. *Alice fights her battles "heads up" i.e.: viewing the battle from the top of the tank rather than through the vision slits. She is the one of only eight tank commanders shown to adopt this posture. *Through use of hand signals and, evidently, her feet, Alice commands her entire tank crew without speaking. *Alice personally accounts for ten tanks incapacitated during the match against the Ooarai Compound Team, the highest total in the match. *During a practice match, Alice commanded a white M4 Sherman. *Alice's university residence dorm is absent of Boko paraphernalia save for a small set of pocket-sized bears. Her dorm is number 204. *Alice is 13-years-old. **Despite her age, Alice thinks of herself as a university student. *In the drama CD, it is revealed that Alice likes frilly clothes. *Alice considers Boko to be her one true love. *As shown in the Alice War! OVA, Alice suffers from motion sickness. *Alice's birthday is October 24th, the same date in 1944 as the sinking of the [[wikipedia:Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Zuikaku|aircraft carrier Zuikaku]] and the [[wikipedia:Japanese_battleship_Musashi|battleship Musashi]] during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. **Surprisingly, a year later (1945) on this day, the United Nations was founded. Gallery es:Arisu Shimada Category:Characters Category:Anime Characters Category:Females Category:Polynymous Category:Overall Commanders Category:Selection University Category:Tank Commanders Category:TemporaryCategory